Those Whose Matter Don't Mind
by RayneSummer
Summary: Set after Uncharted 3, Elena talks Nate and Sully into going to a work Christmas party with her, but when Nate finds himself alone in a room full of people, he needs a little reassuring from his family that it's okay not to embrace Christmas time. He's still loved. (Dr Suess- 'Be Who You Are and Say What You Feel, Because Those Who Matter Don't Mind and Those Who Mind Don't Matter'


**Universe:** Uncharted - set post-u3

 ** _Note:_** _I have so many feels about Uncharted still but I went to see Star Wars yesterday and got a lot of feels there but I don't feel I know it enough to write fic so I wrote this Uncharted Christmas fic and it's aggressively domestic and adorable and has a Star Wars ending and I'm crey adventure family are so great. This is your Christmas present okay, you fantastic ppl who read and review my stories, you are amazing, thank you.  
side note: I had a huge discussion with my parents about Florida, Miami and Key West (the areas Nate, Elena and Sully do or have been known to live, who knows where they live now ha) and have been told it NEVER gets cold there. So I removed the location from the fic (Florida) but left in the fact that it's a little cold in winter, so just pretend I'm talking about somewhere nearby that gets a little cold at winter where Elena's work would have their party. Okay but I live in Britain and it's bloody cold and rainy etc most of the time, especially these days, so I don't know about weather!_

* * *

Nate stood at the buffet table, absently scanning the food on offer. The room was mostly full with people, chattering, laughing, and generally having a good time but being quite loud about it, and here at least he could at least get a few minutes' calm while he pretended to choose a dessert.

He sighed as he picked a cherry off a cream cake (table manners weren't really his thing, despite Elena's exaggerating that they had to be on their 'best behaviour') and wondered again how his wife had talked he and Sully into going to her work Christmas party with her. The latter had floated off after the three of them arrived, probably to chat up women, so Nate was left walking around alone while Elena talked to colleagues.

"Hey, handsome." A voice behind him interrupted his thoughts and Nate spun around, guiltily wiping his cream dappled fingers on the back of his white shirt Elena had made him wear. Sully had got to wear a black one for some reason, probably because Elena didn't trust him with the washing.

"Oh, uh, hi," he replied to the woman. He didn't recognise her and she was eyeing his seductively which would make anyone uncomfortable, especially when it was his wife that had dragged him here in the first place. She smiled secretively and moved to stand beside Nate instead, taking her pick of the tidbits on offer at the table and putting them on the empty plate she held.

Nate cautiously continued eating the cracker he had previously picked up as she turned away from the table and moved to walk back into the crowd of the room, winking at him as she passed. Apparently she wanted no more than a little flirting. But she stopped before disappearing and smirked at him again. "You can sneak into my room any time, Agent," she said in a purr, then walked away.

He blinked after her in bemusement. Why women felt the need to do this kind of thing to him _now_ was a mystery, and a great source of entertainment for Sully if he was nearby. She turned once more in his sight and flashed her smooth legs that were hidden underneath the long dress; he choked on the last bit of cracker and turned around hastily, coughing into his arm.

Trying to clear his throat, he reached for a cup of alcohol-spiked lemonade, needing a drink before he ended up choking to death on a cracker at a Christmas party, because that would just be plan embarrassing, not to mention that it was because a woman flirted with him when he wasn't prepared for it.

As he heard someone come up behind him, he held up a hand to signal for them to wait a minute, but he was ignored, possibly because he was still coughing and, well, for all he knew maybe someone had goddamn poisoned the food and actually wanted to kill him, because he really didn't underestimate that happening here.

Elena would say he was being a paranoid idiot.

"Hey, kid," Sully said, and thumped Nate on the back a couple of times, which really helped. He coughed again, picked up the drink and downed it, then sighed, putting the glass back on the table and staring glumly at it for a reason he couldn't quite pinpoint.

Apparently he was being too quiet or too still or both, because Sully moved to stand behind him (like the girl had done), casually leaning against the table and looking mildly at the crowd, but close enough to murmur in concern, "are you okay?"

Nate sighed again. Now he was really beginning to feel like an idiot, making a big deal out of nothing. "Fine," he muttered in reply before Sully could start worrying or anything. There was nothing bad that was actually happening, he just didn't like this kind of thing. It wasn't his forte at all.

He glanced up to see Sully giving him a thoughtful look. "What's wrong?" he asked in sincerity, raising an eyebrow knowingly to warn Nate against lying. The younger man shrugged.

"This isn't really my scene," he admitted as Sully nodded in understanding. "With all the people and the party and everything. I know more about how to break out of this mansion than stay here and have 'fun'."

Sully frowned at this speech and gave him a once-over as Nate shifted uncomfortably. He wasn't panicking or anything, he just didn't like this place. The whole thing was putting him on edge and he was stressed enough as it was at the moment, trying to make this Christmas - his and Elena's first one back together - special for all of them.

"C'mon. You need some air," Sully decided, gesturing at a nearby door that led to a balcony. Nate nodded gratefully and followed him through some people to the outside. There, he leant over the rail and dropped his head, taking a breath of fresh, sharp, winter air. It didn't really get cold here, but there was a bite to the wind which served as a reminder that it was December, and the sky was midnight black though it was only early evening.

Nate glanced up and picked out the North Star from the various pinpricks of light in the darkness. He felt Sully's gaze on him and turned to the older man with a small smile. "I'm okay. Really."

Sully hummed in response, not agreeing, and continued to watch Nate in concern as the kid closed his eyes, taking breaths of the fresh air to cool down. "Does it help?" He asked quietly, and Nate nodded without opening his eyes. They both knew he wasn't talking about just being outside. The noise from the party was muffled behind the closed doors and the city sounds came from below. It wasn't silent or freezing.

While Nate stood there, Sully sent a quick text to Elena and then slipped his phone in his pocket and approached Nate. Gently he put a hand on the kid's shoulder and Nate blinked at him, tired. "Do you want me to teach you?" Sully asked.

They both looked up and Nate nodded silently. "Please," he whispered.

Sully pointed to the right of where they were gazing. "Okay, Nate, that's one of the main constellations. It's known by a few names, but generally called the Big Dipper or the Saucepan. The handle points to the North Star."

"Because it looks like a saucepan."

"Exactly." Sully glanced at him, an amused glint in his eye. "I thought she banned you from the kitchen," he commented.

Nate huffed what could have been a laugh. "I still know what the cooking tools are called," he replied with a faint smile, still staring up."

Sully nodded. "Well, good. What do you know about Greek Gods, kid?"

"There's constellations named after them?"

He nodded in approval. "Yep. There's Orion, the Hunter..."

That was how Elena found them ten minutes later, after she managed to talk her way out of a conversation with a new enthusiastic colleague who wanted to know all about her adventures in the field. She had been alerted to Nate's distress with the situation by Sully's text, but trusted that they would be alright for a little while, as she couldn't really immediately excuse herself, unfortunately.

She stepped out onto the balcony, taking a breath of fresh air, and smiling at her boys standing next to each other by the railing, looking up at the sky. It was quite hot in the room and it was a relief to get out. She could barely imagine how suffocating it would have been for Nate.

The two of them automatically glanced down at her as she closed the door gently behind her. "Hey, you," she said softly, walking up to her husband and giving him a quick kiss. The decorations of electric glowing snowflakes mounted on the wall above the balcony doorway gently lit their little family.

Sully looked at Elena and caught her eye, giving her a grateful smile as she put her arm in Nate's and nudged him. "You ready to go home now, yeah?"

He nodded, taking another deep breath of the cool air. His silence worried her, because if there was one thing Nate was not, it was quiet or still, so she and Sully just waited for Nate to compose himself. It had been a few months since Yemen and the Atlantis of the Sands, but it could still be yesterday for all they remembered it. Nate woke frequently with nightmares, and sometimes did not sleep at all. He would go over to Sully's and crash on his couch. Slowly he had began healing, sleeping peacefully for a couple of hours or more. Elena and Sully had been there to help him through it all, of course.

Nate suddenly stirred next to Elena, as if suddenly remembering something. "Hey, 'Lena?"

"Yeah, Nate?"

"Did you tell your work people that I'm a spy?"

Elena blinked at him with a perfectly straight face and Sully raised an eyebrow. "Why'd you ask?"

Nate pursed his lips. "Because someone said that I'd be welcome to, and I quote, 'sneak into her bed anytime, agent'," he replied neutrally.

There was a beat then Sully snickered and Elena giggled and Nate grinned properly. "Come on, you two," she said, leading them from the balcony. They skirted around the room inside and slipped out the main doors, unnoticed. Nate paused at the top of the stairs to the front door and Elena glanced back at him questionally.

"You didn't say that, did you?" He asked suspiciously.

She shrugged. "Nope." They headed out onto the brightly lit street by Christmas decorations and city lights. "I just didn't correct them when they came up with it," she added.

Nate groaned theatrically and Sully chuckled. "Don't worry, you're the least subtle person I've ever met. No one will mistake you for a spy if they saw you working," Elena added helpfully.

"She's right there," Sully agreed, taking out a cigar to light and grinning at the look Nate gave him.

"We love you really, Nate," Elena assured him with a soft smile.

He put his arm around her as they walked home all together. "I know."


End file.
